For The Dialog
MILLTOWN – The St. Elizabeth Vikings didn’t get the start they wanted in their girls basketball battle with St. Mark’s on Thursday night, but their defense saved them in a 44-34 Catholic Conference win.
The Vikings’ Alanna Speaks scored 10 seconds into the game, but it was the Spartans who jumped out to an 8-2 lead. Emily Coyle hit a three-pointer and Delaney Carey hit two layups on the press break.
The Vikings then went into a 1-3-1 half-court defense that paid dividends as they got some turnovers and turned them into points. Sarah Metz hit two free throws with one second left in the first quarter to tie the score at 13.
The Vikings dominated the second quarter. Speaks hit a pair of jumpers, and Julie McCarron scored on a put-back shot as the Vikings opened the quarter on a 9-0 run to lead 22-13. Carey hit a layup right before the half, but the Spartans trailed 28-17 at the half.
Both teams struggled offensively to open the second half, with both defenses forcing turnovers, and there were no open looks. Metz and Speaks then hit three-pointers as the quarter ended with the Vikings up 39-21.
The Spartans wouldn’t go down with out a fight as Kendra Schweizer nailed a three-pointer and Coyle a jumper to cut it to 39-29. A Speaks layup and a deep triple from Metz gave the Vikings a 44-29 lead with 3:42 left. Schweizer cut it to 44-34 with 2:55 left with another three-point shot, but neither team could score after that.
Speaks had 13 points while Metz had 12 with three three-pointers for St. Elizabeth. The Vikings (5-6) host Milford tonight at 6:45 p.m. The Spartans (3-7) got 15 from Carey and nine from Schweizer. They play at St. Georges Tech on Saturday at 1:30 p.m.
